Ukiah City Council: City backs forest bill

Ukiah Daily Journal

Ukiah City Council: City backs forest bill
Friday, August 06, 2004 -

Residents who speak voice opposition to Chesbro's SB 1648

BY DAVID EDWARDS/The Daily Journal

The Ukiah City Council gave more of a jingling endorsement -- as opposed to a ringing one -- to a contentious forest bill Wednesday.

In fact, Mayor Eric Larson spoke so softly in his motion to support the bill that Council member Phil Baldwin, who sits next to Larson, said, "I thought I heard your words I move,' so I second that."

Nonetheless, the council unanimously approved a letter of conditional support for SB 1648.

The legislation, drafted by Sen. Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata, proposes a variety of changes to the management of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest.

Located in the mountains northwest of Ukiah, the forest has ignited a fierce debate between logging and environmental interests. Lawsuits and subsequent rulings have stymied commercial logging there for three years.

Most of the citizens who spoke at Wednesday's meeting opposed the bill. A couple of them used the word "unnecessary" to describe it.

The only common thread of the opposing speakers, though, was their opposition. The criticisms grew in number and in breadth throughout the discussion.

"If you vote for this bill, you're voting for a pig in a poke, because you don't know what you're getting," Bill Smith, a retired forester from Ukiah, told the council. "Their avowed intent is to turn Jackson State Forest into a park. We need to send a message to industry that we are supportive, and I think this bill is the final nail in the coffin of industry in Mendocino County."

However, in a June 30 letter to Ukiah City Manager Candace Horsley, Chesbro wrote, "We are not creating a park." He emphasized the statement by writing it in bold type.

Julie Bawcom, an engineering geologist at the forest, also spoke against the bill.

"The senator or his staff never came out for a tour of Jackson Demonstration State Forest," Bawcom said. "The bill was written without any firsthand knowledge of the forest, and it's inconceivable to me how that could happen.

"You're trying to mandate science; science and politics don't go together. We don't need this legislation. It will open up a can of worms, and it will haunt us for many years."

Bawcom told The Ukiah Daily Journal after the meeting she was speaking as an individual citizen, not as a representative of the California Geological Survey.

Members of Chesbro's staff were not surprised by the amount of public criticism at Wednesday's meeting.

Darby Kernan, a Chesbro spokeswoman, said the senator knew from the beginning his bill struck many community nerves. In bringing the competing interests into the discussion, he practically invited a political firestorm.

That's exactly what has happened. On Wednesday, though, Chesbro aide Jennifer Puser won over the council enough to earn the city's blessing.

Larson suggested the city pattern its letter after one written by the Point Arena City Council. That letter highlighted several parts of the bill Point Arena officials particularly liked.

Chesbro's struggle for passage of the bill has covered multiple fronts. In the first place, he's had to deal with the tangle of the legislative process. Then he faced the challenge of reaching a compromise with all the parties involved. Finally, he had to garner the support of several local government agencies.

A couple of sticking points remain in the bill and must be hammered out. In spite of that, though, even the most critical of the local government agencies -- the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors -- reconsidered its position.

Larson and the rest of the Ukiah City Council stressed that they support many of the bill's concepts, such as resuming logging at Jackson State Forest. In the end, they gave a thumbs-up, just not all the way.

"I have concerns about the bill, but they're dwindling," Larson said. "I think there are worthwhile concerns raised by parties that have far more at stake than we."